Faith and Adversity
Preaching/Speaking: Rev. Adam Hamilton
Date Presented: May 23, 2010
Sermon Series:
Behind the Veil: Women of the Bible
OVERVIEW
“Several lessons we can take from Hagar’s encounter with God: 1) God sees us in our distress. He hears us when we cry out. This is a common message throughout scripture–God is neither blind nor deaf. He even searches for us. And God is particularly moved by the cries of his children when they are in distress. 2) God does not deliver us in the way we wish–sometimes he calls us to return and wait, trusting that we will be delivered, but in God’s times, not in ours. God promises Hagar that her son will be a great nation, that she will have many grandchildren, and that she will not always be Sarah’s slave-girl. But for now she must be obedient and wait…We will all be Naomi at some point–facing terrible pain–and we will all be Ruth–in the midst of our pain serving someone else. We will be God’s answer to prayer for someone else. In fact, that’s part of our task–to look for ways to be God’s answer to prayer for one another.” --Rev. Adam Hamilton in “Faith and Adversity”